Roses will always be there for a Pearl
by Writer Noire
Summary: After several attacks on the Crystal Gems, Rose Quartz goes to fight the attacker itself and will face her most challenging opponent


The rain poured down as Rose leapt down with her sword and shield at the ready. Lately several attacks on the Crystal Gems have been impacting their efforts to win. Garnet, more like Ruby was damaged in a fight with a message to come to the Gem Temple found within the desert. Sapphire wanted to come, but Rose insisted she and Ruby stay to lead the gems as Garnet; at least until she returned.

Rain poured gently as Rose entered the temple door. The Gem temple itself rarely had any type of weather hit, but at the moment it wasn't Rose's concern. She looked around and found the servant chamber. A small memory played in her head.

"Pink Diamond will be your superior and you will listen to her every word. Got it?" The enforcer asked.

The thin pale gem nodded as she stayed in her kneeling position. Rose waved the enforcer away and the Pearl looked up. She smiled at her and Pearl just lowered her head.

Rose smiled at the memory. "Hello. So glad that you could make it." The voice cut her connection to the memory and she turned to see a small figure in the distance.

It had the basic guard outfit only with the diamond symbol placed on the forehead of a blue mask. Rose turned and her tired gaze turned solid as she faced her adversary.

"It ends tonight. All of it." Rose said. The figure chuckled as she pulled out the broken end of a spear and held it as a knife.

"Believe me. I know." She held the spear point at her and launched a volley of energy blasts at her.

The pink gem raised her shield and the blast raised smoke. With her vision now limited, the Crystal Gem looked carefully around before feeling a large amount of pain explode on her back.

This sent her rolling across the floor. When she was up against the ground, Rose's opponent jumped above her and stabbed downward. Recovering quickly, the shield once again sprung to life and stopped the blade from reaching her.

"Ah, you and your shield. A lovely pacifist that has a weapon that can barely be used as a weapon. How fitting." Rose grunted and swung her sword.

The spear point got it and sent the unknown gem flying off her. She landed gracefully on her feet before firing a couple more shots.

Rose dodged and blocked a few, but one hit her right in the gem. Her shield disappeared and Rose fell to her knees. "Like it? A small pulse of energy cancels out your shield summoning for a small amount of time. Very useful on making the powerful gems feel weak without their weapons. Ah, but you're a special case."

The leader of the Crystal Gems didn't answer as she pulled out her sword and swung in a brilliant pink arc. Her opponent lept into the air and took out several knives. Each one she threw hit the edges of Rose's dress and held her in place. Before she could free herself, several large blows hit her right in the face.

"Come on! This is easy, Rose! Fight!" Rose growled softly before tearing her dress and tackling her adversary through a window. Both gems flew out and landed hard on in the training arena. They two groaned softly in pain before Rose got up and walked over. Her sword was left in the servant chamber, but she could retrieve it later.

"Enough, it's ov-" A hard kick on the side of her head sent her flying and she landed against a rack of swords. "Look at you. Even after all those years you still hold that weak belief of stopping a fight after knowing there won't be an end. Very stupid, but more admirable compared to the other beliefs you had. You know, the ones that got me killed."

"Just take off that mask. I want to talk to you properly." Rose asked as she got up. "Alright, if it makes the guilt even worse." The gem replied before taking off her mask.

"Pearl." Rose stated.

The pale gem gave her a kind smile before turning it into a scowl. "Yes."

"Please, I don't want to fight you."

"I don't know. I mean we fought plenty of times over the safety of that blue planet." Her face went dark as she remembered. "Earth, the place of one of your biggest mistakes and one of you most prominent failures."

"Yellow Diamond sent me the video. I saw you die."

"DON'T LIE TO ME! How could you abandon me in that mine with her? How long did you mourn my loss? A minute? A SECOND?! I put my trust, my loyalty, my life for you. And when I was missing, what did you do? You replaced me with another Pearl? No. Have Garnet take my place? No! Replace my position as your confidant with a human? Of course! After all you started a war for this godforsaken planet thousands of years ago, why not drag humans into it and replace an invaluable ally with a damn human."

Rose stood silently as Pearl continued her rant. Her hand was slowly reaching over to a sword and she inched her hand towards the hilt. A spear lodged itself right between Rose's fingers and the sword as Pearl charged forward and kneed Rose in the gut.

Rose doubled over before Pearl grabbed her neck and slammed her against the wall. Though she had a smaller stature, Pearl was no pushover since she could handle several gems her size. "Can't believe you would be so sneaky, but I guess it's just your nature."

"No! The human was a king we were helping. I didn't replace you." Rose choked out. Pearl's eyes widened and let go of Rose's neck. She walked back and looked at her hands. "W-what, but Yellow Diamond showed me…"

"Yellow Diamond lied! She only showed you what you feared. I would never replace you. You're my Pearl." Rose said through gasps. Pearl looked at Rose then to her hands. Her mind was split, but something in her wanted to fight.

"No! You're the liar! You manipulated countless gems to join your crusade. And I was one of them. You tricked me by making me care for that planet, for those humans, for you."

"Pearl." Rose said before getting up. "Yellow Diamond's methods...how long."

"I spent over three centuries going through her rehabilitation. I was punished for defending you and poofed if I ever defied them. Luckily, I quickly learned and soon began working for the right side. Homeworld's side."

The pink gem scowled at Pearl's explanation. "She tortured you! Broke you from the inside and made you weak. I thought you wanted to be strong Pearl! You wanted to become one of the first Pearls to do something amazing. Wasn't that your goal?"

Pearl didn't answer before summoning two of her spears in each of her hand. "And my goal hasn't changed. I'll be the first Pearl to bring down the infamous Pink Diamond." Rose shook her head and got up.

"I'm not going to fight you."

"You will and you won't have a choice." Pearl retorted.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

Pearl focused on her gem and a small projection formed to show several Homeworld forces moving towards the Crystal Gems base. Rose looked at it in horror as she knew countless gems of her army stood unaware. "I took the liberty to have some of Yellow Diamond's forces move towards your base of operations.

She found a wailing stone next to Pearl and she walked towards it. Pearl threw one of her spears at her feet to get her attention. "If you want to warn your forces, you're gonna have to fight me for that wailing stone in this room. If you don't then every single one of our-your comrades will die by your hand."

Rose looked at Pearl then to her projection of the Gem forces moving towards them temple. She jumped forward and reached for the wailing stone. Pearl kicked it up and threw her second spear through the hole and stuck it against the wall.

The gem leader and her former servant stared each other down before Rose's dress formed into her armor. Pearl smiled softly at the sight before running right at her with another spear at hand. Rose felt her gem glow and her shield come to reality. The clash echoed loudly throughout the room as Pearl struggled to push forward. Rose grabbed Pearl's spear and pulled her in.

The pale gem gasped in surprise before feeling the ground meet her body. She rolled out of the way as the shield punctured the ground, leaving a massive crack there. The two looked at each before charging once again. Rose taught Pearl everything and her she was proving that she was holding no restraint.

Pearl felt no joy from the fight, but she had to prove to Yellow Diamond her usefulness and to fulfill her supposed revenge against Rose Quartz. The two met again as the area around them became more and more damaged. Pearl shot several bolts of energy at Rose, but each bounced off harmlessly.

Rose rushed her and knocked the spear out of her hand. "Pearl! Stop it, it's over!" But the white gem just gave her battle cry and charged forward. Rose didn't show any change in her stance before punching Pearl square in the face and pushing her against the wall.

"Yellow Diamond got to you! I know how it feels." Pearl pushed her off and gave her a conflicted look. "No! You're lying!" She summoned a holo-Pearl to which it tackled Rose off her.

Pearl felt her chest hurt again as it always happened when she hurt Rose. It bothered her a little, but now it was becoming more and more of a nuisance. Before she could think of anything, the holo-Pearl flew back and crashed through wall.

The shield was now the size of Rose's height and it was prepared for anything else. Pearl growled angrily before summoning a small squadron of holo-Pearls, each with spears, prime and ready to shoot.

The holograms fired at Rose and each blast once again fell flat when they collided with the shield. The pink gem pushed forward and expertly incapacitated each hologram. Pearl felt her throat tighten as Rose once again pinned her.

"You're not a servant! You're a strong independent Pearl that can think for herself!" Those words washed over Pearl like warm water, but her programming fought against the kind words. "STOP! Stop talking to me!" She replied weakly as she kicked Rose away and took out her spear. She shot her energy straight to the star on Rose's gem and watched Rose's form and shield glitch.

"You caused a war, you split our planet, you made me think you cared! You're a liar, Rose!" Pearl shouted back with whatever conviction she could muster. 'But you could've blocked my shot. Why did you take the shot?!'

Rose got up and breathed heavy. Her hair was now messy and her kind features begin to look even more battered than when they started. She walked up to Pearl slowly with her arm reaching outward.

"No, stay away!"

"Pearl." She simply replied. Pearl thrust her spear forward and watched in horror as the spear point hit her right in the shoulder.

She didn't give away in sound of pain, but her tears were evidence that it hurt. Pearl moved her spear out of the shoulder and watched Rose clutch her shoulder now. Now the spear disappeared as Pearl stood astounded by Rose's lack of defense.

The taller gem continued to walk forward with a steel gaze on her friend.

Pearl's breath hitched in her throat and she grabbed a sword from the rack. "Don't come closer! I'll hurt you!"

"But earlier you wanted to bring me in." Pearl's thought process stopped its tracks at the thought. "Is the Pearl I know and love still there? Does she still believe in me to help her?" Rose asked as she began picking her place.

Pearl swung the sword and watched it break against the pink gauntlet. She cursed loudly at the cheap sword before swinging the rest of it as a knife. Rose caught her wrist and disarmed her. Pearl just gritted her teeth before throwing her fists. Each one was blocked before Rose decided to end it.

When Pearl threw one last punch, Rose caught it and looked at her straight in the eye. "No more!" A kick sent her landing on her back. Pearl jumped up and tried to throw her counter attack, but her former superior dodged it and brought her knee to meet the pale gem's torso.

Pearl fell to her knees gasping for air, but felt Rose grab her and punched her across her face. "You always told me you wanted to be stronger than you are now!" Crack. Pow. "But it won't happen like this!" Pearl felt the window into the garden against her back. "Never like this!" Rose cried out before throwing one last punch that forced Pearl outside and feeling the cold ground meet her.

The Crystal Gem walked outside and her armor returned to looking like her dress. "It didn't have to be this way." But nothing was heard, but the soft sobbing of the gem lying down on the ground trying to hold her tears in.

Rose ran over and found Pearl's arm covering the bottom of her face as her tears flowed freely. "I'm so weak. I l-let Yellow Diamond's tactics work, I let myself be captured to give you some time. Why can't either of you see how useless I am? You both used me and I just let you."

"You're wrong, Pearl." Pearl looked up at her with the look of a confused child. "I didn't use you. I've dealt with the prejudices of Homeworld for well over millennia and when I got you I still believed to be one of the few to ever speak against that. But when you snapped at me about standing out and doing something that no Pearl has ever done, I knew at once that I wasn't alone."

Pearl was now sitting up, but saw Rose cry. She scooped up some of her tears and pressed the softly against her friend's cheek. "Yellow Diamond's different. She exploits the weakness of gems and uses it to maintain so called peace. In her position it makes her look uncaring, cold, and calculating."

"But, I won't act as if my actions are any better. I caused a war between our world over a simple planet and caused many gems to fall in battle. While we differ from each on many occasions there is no bad guy. Homeworld is trying to maintain what peace and order they got, while we fight to protect a planet that offers freedom and a fresh slate. Now that I think about it I don't blame you or Yellow Diamond for hating me."

Rose sat down and sighed as Pearl quietly rested on her thoughts. 'Rose finds herself as the guilty party even with Homeworld's rule. Both of them did lead to this. Homeworld's strict rule led much to be desired, but Rose's declaration of war tore families, friends, and allies apart.'

"By the way Sapphire told me of a vision of the forces that were going to invade our base. They'll handle your forces." Rose called out. Pearl didn't look at her, but felt the warm presence of Rose Quartz wash over her again.

They sat their for a couple more seconds until Rose stood up. "Pearl." Pearl looked up at her and Rose turned with a cheerful smile. "Let's go home, Garnet and the others miss you so much. Well maybe not Ruby, but you can fix that right?"

Staring at her with wide eyes, Pearl smiled brightly as she quickly stood up and changed her guard outfit for a more elegant ballerina gown. Rose held out her hand and Pearl took it. "We can work on fixing the rest of Yellow Diamond's influence later."

"Right, but I'll be fine as long as you're with me."


End file.
